THE ELK IN NOEWAY. 147 



herd. In such cases they endeavour to separate a deer 

 from the main body ; and if they succeed in so doing 

 they set after it like a pack of foxhounds after 

 Reynard, following it unceasingly till they bring it 

 down. Doubtless, many elk fall a prey to the wolf 

 at this season, when the snow lies deep on the ground, 

 as their long legs sink too deep in the snow to be 

 of much service to them either in showing their heels 

 or in using them as a means of offence. 



The lynx and the glutton have never been known to 

 attack a full-grown elk. The attentions of these 

 animals are confined to the young calves, or to any 

 that have been wounded or are sick. 



Like the reindeer, the elk is much tormented during 

 the summer with musquitoes and all kinds of abominable 

 flies, with which the forests and swamps of Norway 

 abound. 



It has been computed that an elk seldom attains 

 a greater age than sixteen or seventeen years. 



Wangenheim mentions that it is a common oc- 

 currence to light upon dead elks in the forests of 

 Lithuania. The diseases to which they are peculiarly 

 liable are "splenitis" and "dysentery," owing, pro- 

 bably, to their making use of stagnant water in very 

 hot summers. This can, however, scarcely be ap- 

 plicable to the elk-deer in Norway, where it is scarcely 

 possible, either in forest or on fjeld, to go a mile 



